The small lawn in my back garden got its first trim of 2006 a week or so ago (I didn’t do it - it's a bit of a long story but it started out as a bid to find the hole for the rotary clothes dryer that was about to get its first airing of the year, and ended with a full mowing session).
We hadn't cut it much after the end of September last year so it was rather shaggy, but even though the temptation is to give it a grade one haircut, it's worth lifting the blades on your mower to the highest setting before striking out with your trusty machine.
I am going to try to cut the lawn as little as possible this summer - longer grass blades cope better with drought conditions, and I also like to allow the clover and other plants that have taken up home to flower as a treat for the bees. Lawn fascists try to excise every single foreign body from the lawn, a policy I can never quite get my head around, particularly with something as pretty as clover, which also fixes nitrogen in the soil. I dig out dandelions with an old kitchen knife if they start to dominate an area, and rake out excess moss, although a bit of moss does no harm at all.
The prevailing garden design fashion is very much anti-grass, but there is something to be said for a patch of green, though. There's nothing better than dozing on an uncut lawn in midsummer, watching the bumblebees zoom around your head.
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